1993-94 Bauer Cleveland Home Game Worn
#9 Markus Naslund
Manufacturer: Bauer
Size: 52
Purchased From: GameWornAuctions.net Fall 2017 Auction
Lettered by: The Cleveland Lumberjacks
The Story: The Penguins has just won their first Stanley Cup in the Spring of 1991, and the City of Pittsburgh was paying a lot more attention to hockey and, specifically, the Penguins in the summer that followed. Over that summer, they drafted a Swedish winger by the name of Markus Naslund with their first pick, 16th overall. After finishing out his contract with MoDo in the Swedish Elite League, where he set league records for a 17-year-old, the highly-touted rookie finally came over to Pittsburgh for his rookie training camp prior to the 1993-94 season.
To no one's surprise, he made the team out of training camp. However, the Penguins were stacked at forward, with no fewer than five future Hall of Famers gracing their forward lines. Established NHL superstars like Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Kevin Stevens, Bryan Trottier, Joe Mullen, and Rick Tocchet weren't going to play behind an unproven rookie like Naslund, and the Pens also had good young forwards like Martin Straka and Shawn McEachern on their roster. Many of these players were natural centers who were learned to play the wings, but still kept the defensive responsibilities of a center in mind when on the ice. Naslund had always been a prolific scorer, but being relegated to third- or fourth line duties meant he wasn't playing alongside the most adept scorers. There's an old hockey adage that says if one plays on the third line for long enough, he'll start playing like a third-liner. This is what happened to Naslund, at least in terms of scoring, and he wasn't very happy. His attitude became an issue, and as a result, he was demoted to Cleveland of the International Hockey League, the Pens' top farm team at the time.
In Cleveland, he scored at what was his typical pace, with a goal and six assists in five games. He was then brought back to Pittsburgh, where he continued to tread water on the Pens third and fourth lines. The same story played out through the shortened 1994-95 season, where he split time between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and was even assigned to Cleveland for the playoffs, where he continued to score at a point-per-game rate. He became a whipping boy for the local sports media, who began calling him "Mr. September" due to his ability to show glimpses of his ability in the preseason, only to struggle once the season began. After Stevens and Luc Robitaille left Pittsburgh prior to the 1995-96 season, he was given a more prominent role, playing on Lemieux's left side. He started the 1995-96 campaign like a house of fire, scoring 36 points in his first 29 games, but the left wing on Lemieux's line needed to play defense as well. This wasn't Naslund's forte, and he was demoted to third- and fourth-line duty again, and his "prima donna" attitude, as described by the sportswriters, became a problem. So was his perceived lack of grit, which was a glaring weakness of the entire team. As a result, he was traded to Vancouver for Alex Stojanov, with the latter expected to bring that much-needed toughness to Pittsburgh.
This trade is considered, by virtually every account, to be one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history. Stojanov played a total of 45 games for the Pens, contributing six points and 86 penalty minutes, before bouncing around the minor leagues and retiring prior to his 30th birthday. Naslund, on the other hand, was reborn in Vancouver. He played 11 more seasons for them, becoming their all-time longest reigning captain (eight years) and all-time leading scorer (756 points in 884 games), before finishing his NHL career with a season as a New York Ranger, then going back to his native Sweden. In 2002-03, he won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL's top player, as voted by the NHL players themselves. Time will tell, but many expect that Naslund will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. His tenure with the Penguins organization, however, is understandably forgotten. Both Naslund and the team contributed to his inability to reach his potential in a Penguins uniform.
This jersey is his Cleveland home jersey from his rookie season of 1993-94 - Bauer's version of the Penguins "new logo" home jerseys introduced the year before, with the old Lumberjacks logo dating back to their days in Muskegon, prior to the team's move to Cleveland. He only wore this jersey for the home games in his five-game stint with Cleveland, and I couldn't find a picture of him wearing it, but as expected on a jersey worn in so few games, game wear is very light. As was customary in that era, the nameplate was removed by the Lumberjacks equipment manager so that this barely-used jersey could be "recycled" and used by another player should the need arise. That never happened with this one, as the Jacks changed their logo and color scheme prior to the 1994-95 season. However, even with the nameplate removed, you can still clearly see the outline of "NASLUND" across the shoulders, just above the number "9." However, this jersey is a nice fit in my collection, as it's a very rare example of a player who was misused in Pittsburgh who moved on and became a superstar. And besides, how many Markus Naslund minor league jerseys do you see at the arena?
Size: 52
Purchased From: GameWornAuctions.net Fall 2017 Auction
Lettered by: The Cleveland Lumberjacks
The Story: The Penguins has just won their first Stanley Cup in the Spring of 1991, and the City of Pittsburgh was paying a lot more attention to hockey and, specifically, the Penguins in the summer that followed. Over that summer, they drafted a Swedish winger by the name of Markus Naslund with their first pick, 16th overall. After finishing out his contract with MoDo in the Swedish Elite League, where he set league records for a 17-year-old, the highly-touted rookie finally came over to Pittsburgh for his rookie training camp prior to the 1993-94 season.
To no one's surprise, he made the team out of training camp. However, the Penguins were stacked at forward, with no fewer than five future Hall of Famers gracing their forward lines. Established NHL superstars like Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Kevin Stevens, Bryan Trottier, Joe Mullen, and Rick Tocchet weren't going to play behind an unproven rookie like Naslund, and the Pens also had good young forwards like Martin Straka and Shawn McEachern on their roster. Many of these players were natural centers who were learned to play the wings, but still kept the defensive responsibilities of a center in mind when on the ice. Naslund had always been a prolific scorer, but being relegated to third- or fourth line duties meant he wasn't playing alongside the most adept scorers. There's an old hockey adage that says if one plays on the third line for long enough, he'll start playing like a third-liner. This is what happened to Naslund, at least in terms of scoring, and he wasn't very happy. His attitude became an issue, and as a result, he was demoted to Cleveland of the International Hockey League, the Pens' top farm team at the time.
In Cleveland, he scored at what was his typical pace, with a goal and six assists in five games. He was then brought back to Pittsburgh, where he continued to tread water on the Pens third and fourth lines. The same story played out through the shortened 1994-95 season, where he split time between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and was even assigned to Cleveland for the playoffs, where he continued to score at a point-per-game rate. He became a whipping boy for the local sports media, who began calling him "Mr. September" due to his ability to show glimpses of his ability in the preseason, only to struggle once the season began. After Stevens and Luc Robitaille left Pittsburgh prior to the 1995-96 season, he was given a more prominent role, playing on Lemieux's left side. He started the 1995-96 campaign like a house of fire, scoring 36 points in his first 29 games, but the left wing on Lemieux's line needed to play defense as well. This wasn't Naslund's forte, and he was demoted to third- and fourth-line duty again, and his "prima donna" attitude, as described by the sportswriters, became a problem. So was his perceived lack of grit, which was a glaring weakness of the entire team. As a result, he was traded to Vancouver for Alex Stojanov, with the latter expected to bring that much-needed toughness to Pittsburgh.
This trade is considered, by virtually every account, to be one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history. Stojanov played a total of 45 games for the Pens, contributing six points and 86 penalty minutes, before bouncing around the minor leagues and retiring prior to his 30th birthday. Naslund, on the other hand, was reborn in Vancouver. He played 11 more seasons for them, becoming their all-time longest reigning captain (eight years) and all-time leading scorer (756 points in 884 games), before finishing his NHL career with a season as a New York Ranger, then going back to his native Sweden. In 2002-03, he won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the NHL's top player, as voted by the NHL players themselves. Time will tell, but many expect that Naslund will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. His tenure with the Penguins organization, however, is understandably forgotten. Both Naslund and the team contributed to his inability to reach his potential in a Penguins uniform.
This jersey is his Cleveland home jersey from his rookie season of 1993-94 - Bauer's version of the Penguins "new logo" home jerseys introduced the year before, with the old Lumberjacks logo dating back to their days in Muskegon, prior to the team's move to Cleveland. He only wore this jersey for the home games in his five-game stint with Cleveland, and I couldn't find a picture of him wearing it, but as expected on a jersey worn in so few games, game wear is very light. As was customary in that era, the nameplate was removed by the Lumberjacks equipment manager so that this barely-used jersey could be "recycled" and used by another player should the need arise. That never happened with this one, as the Jacks changed their logo and color scheme prior to the 1994-95 season. However, even with the nameplate removed, you can still clearly see the outline of "NASLUND" across the shoulders, just above the number "9." However, this jersey is a nice fit in my collection, as it's a very rare example of a player who was misused in Pittsburgh who moved on and became a superstar. And besides, how many Markus Naslund minor league jerseys do you see at the arena?